Survey Shows Christmas Advertising Piles the Pressure on Mums

With around £29bn spent on Christmas in 2012, and over 83 per cent of mums surveyed by Mumpanel set to spend either the same or more than last year on Christmas 2013, the battle to get on Santa’s gift list has never been more lucrative.

More than 80 per cent of mums questioned in the mum study, with children aged 4-11, said that TV advertising has influenced their child to pester them for a particular product or toy, with this year’s most requested Christmas gift being Lego for this age group.

Other gifts high on children’s Christmas lists include bikes, tablets, consoles and board games.

The study shows 54% of mums said they did cave into the demands of their child. However, when asked specifically about Christmas, that number rose dramatically to 80 per cent who would buy gifts as a result of pester power.

One mum who was so fed up of advertising said: “I now record their favourite programmes and then fast forward through the adverts.”

The Mumpanel study also questioned mums about how they felt about brands advertising to their children.

Some 65 per cent of mums felt that some brands were not communicating responsibly and that advertising today means parents are constantly having to say “no” to their children.

With a staggering 86 per cent of mums saying that they have little or no disposable income left at the end of each month, it is no surprise that many mums felt advertising often led to “negative conversations” and “disappointment” for their children.